Plutonium Leak at Austrian IAEA Facility

Pressure buildup in a sealed sample bottle in a storage safe resulted in plutonium contamination that was limited to a storage room. The lab was empty at the time of the incident, which occurred early Sunday morning (August 3).

The leak happened in a high security area of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Safeguards Analytical Laboratory in Seibersdorf, Austria, 35 kilometers south of Vienna.

The IAEA says the lab is equipped with an air filtering system to prevent the release of radioactivity into the environment. The incident area will remain restricted until decontamination can be completed.

The Seibersdorf laboratory was built in the 1970’s and is considered outdated. An IAEA spokesperson said this incident was a one-time event that had nothing to do with the lab being outdated and that this could have happened in the most up-to-date lab. The agency also excluded the possibility that a person caused this incident.

Why am I not comforted by the IAEA’s explanation? I am especially dismayed that the IAEA has continued to operate a laboratory they admit is outdated and does not meet United Nations safety standards. How are we supposed to feel safe about nuclear energy when the organization that is supposed to pursue “safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear sciences and technology” apparently has no problem operating outdated facilities?